Peak
56
Weeks
12
Score
663
Chart Year
2023
Olivia Rodrigo recorded "Can't Catch Me Now" for the dystopian science fiction action film The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes. It's the fifth installment in The Hunger Games film series. The film is based on the 2020 novel The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins. A prequel set 64 years before Katniss Everdeen volunteered as tribute, its plot traces the rise of Panem's tyrant-in-the-making, Coriolanus Snow, and his fateful entanglement with Hunger Games tribute Lucy Gray Baird during the 10th Hunger Games. "Can't Catch Me Now" tells the haunting story of vengeful retribution from the point of view of Lucy Gray Baird. I'm here, I'm there, I'm everywhere But you can't catch me now Lucy Gray, the elusive force, will leave a lasting mark on Snow. Rodrigo wrote the somber folk-rock ballad with her producer, Daniel Nigro. The song was released on November 3, 2023, as the official soundtrack single for The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. Nigro played guitar, keyboards, bass, mellotron; Paul Cartwright conducted the string arrangement and plays viola and violin; and Missouri singer-songwriter Chappell Roan sang the background vocals. Paul Cartwright and Chappell Roan both worked on Rodrigo's Guts album, released a couple of months before "Can't Catch Me Now." Cartwright played violin and viola on "Vampire" and "Teenage Dream"; Roan sang backing vocals on "Lacy." The Leonn Ward-directed music video starts with Rodrigo playing guitar and singing the song in an isolated cabin before sprinting through a green field. The visual is interspersed with clips from the film. Leon Ward also shot the video for English singer-songwriter Celeste's "Stop This Flame." For Rodrigo, writing "Can't Catch Me Now" was more difficult than writing the songs on Sour and Guts. "It was a really fun challenge for me as a songwriter, because lots of my songs are kind of about my personal life," she told Entertainment Tonight. "Very diaristic and confessional." "It was a wonderful experience to try to write something from the character of Lucy Gray," Rodrigo continued. "A character that I feel very connected to."
There's blood on the side of the mountain There's writing all over the wall Shadows of us are still dancin' In every room and every hall There's snow fallin' over the city You thought that it would wash away The bitter taste of my fury And all of the messes you made Yeah, you think that you got away But I'm in the trees, I'm in the breeze My footsteps on the ground You'll see my face in every place But you can't catch me now Through wading grass, the months will pass You'll feel it all around I'm here, I'm there, I'm everywhere But you can't catch me now No, you can't catch me now Bet you thought I'd never do it Thought it'd go over my head I bet you figured I'd pass with the winter Be somethin' easy to forget Oh, you think I'm gone 'cause I left But I'm in the trees, I'm in the breeze My footsteps on the ground You'll see my face in every place But you can't catch me now Through wading grass, the months will pass You'll feel it all around I'm here, I'm there, I'm everywhere But you can't catch me now No, you can't catch me now Ooh, ooh Ooh, ooh You can't, you can't catch me now I'm comin' like a storm into your town You can't, you can't catch me now I'm higher than the hopes that you brought down You can't, you can't catch me now I'm comin' like a storm into your town You can't, you can't catch me now I'm higher than the hopes that you brought down You can't, you can't catch me now I'm comin' like a storm into your town You can't, you can't catch me now You can't, you can't, you can't There's blood on the side of the mountain It's turning a new shade of red Yeah, sometimes the fire you founded Don't burn the way you'd expect Yeah, you thought that this was the end
| Week | Chart Date | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nov 18, 2023 | 56 | 70 |
| 2 | Nov 25, 2023 | 81 | 45 |
| 3 | Dec 2, 2023 | 63 | 63 |
| 4 | Dec 9, 2023 | 59 | 67 |
| 5 | Dec 16, 2023 | 67 | 59 |
| 6 | Dec 23, 2023 | 84 | 42 |
| 7 | Dec 30, 2023 | 87 | 39 |
| 8 | Jan 6, 2024 | 95 | 31 |
| 9 | Jan 13, 2024 | 63 | 63 |
| 10 | Jan 20, 2024 | 63 | 63 |
| 11 | Jan 27, 2024 | 85 | 41 |
| 12 | Feb 3, 2024 | 91 | 35 |